The astonishing popularity of pick-up trucks has been a disaster for emissions. But if drivers – particularly in the US – embrace the new generation of electric trucks, the (positive) impact could be enormous.
- SUVs (including pick-up trucks) have been the second-largest contributor to the global increase in CO2 emissions since 2010
- US consumers are ideologically wedded to their trucks
- Electric trucks are a necessary evil if America is to embrace the energy transition
Travel to the US, and one of the first things you’ll notice is the size of the vehicles on its roads. The pick-up or light truck (the largest, heaviest type of ‘sports utility vehicle’ or SUV) holds a unique place in American culture that foreigners find hard to fathom. And while a growing preference for SUVs has been a global phenomenon over the last decade, the US leads the world when it comes to the market share held by these types of vehicles. For those of us whose memories reach back that far, The Simpsons parodied America’s obsession with trucks in its ad for the ‘Canyonero’, an oversized truck, way back in 1998.
